CHESHIRE’S Sandstone Ridge – which stretches from Frodsham in the north to Malpas in the south – is to come under scrutiny by an award-winning place-branding specialist.
Chris Sands, of the Good Company, will be studying the 30km ridge and talking to local people to learn about its special landscape and build up a picture of its sense of place.
Anyone who sees him out and about this summer is invited to stop him for a chat.
Chris has been commissioned by the Sandstone Ridge Trust as part of its Heritage Lottery funded project exploring how best to look after the area’s landscape, heritage and wildlife for the benefit and enjoyment of current and future generations.
Key to that work is raising the area’s profile and importance in the public’s minds, giving it an identity, and creating a brand and story to support this – and that’s where Chris comes in.
Chairman of the Sandstone Ridge Trust Andrew Hull said: “We are looking forward to working with Chris on this exciting project. He will look at the Ridge through a fresh pair of eyes, and help to create a strong identity for the area that will be deeply felt by inhabitants and visitors for years to come”.
The Ridge is a new landscape for Chris. Based in the gritstone hills and valleys of West Yorkshire, he has worked with communities in the South Pennines, Calderdale, across the UK and even in the Barossa Valley in South Australia, where his work won “Best Place Marketing Campaign” 2016 for all of Australia.
Chris said “The Sandstone Ridge is a beautiful, stunning landscape and I’m thrilled to be working alongside the Trust to help them realise their hopes and plans for the area. I want to speak to lots of people over the summer and hear their stories so that I can understand what the Ridge means for them. If you see me out and about, do stop to stay hello!”
Chris’s work will add to, and draw together, the wide range of brochures, books and artwork that the Trust has already prepared for the Sandstone Ridge, and that can be viewed on the website www.sandstoneridge.org.uk